The 6 Greatest Lies Ever Told by Children

#3. "[Some Celebrity] and I Hang Out All the Time"

This one usually shows up when that one slightly weird kid casually starts name-dropping celebrities that she knows personally. Whether it's through a mutual acquaintance or a summer camp before the celebrity got famous, the implication is that the liar is a cool person who definitely shouldn't be shunned quite as much as she has been. The exact celebrity varies with the age group and the times; these days, I imagine it's probably preteen girls bragging about knowing Justin Bieber. Do preteen girls still like Justin Bieber? Or is it just weird older women now?

Jupiterimages / Photos.com / Getty Images"He's still pretty hot, but yes, less so now that he's an adult."

It's not hard to see why these lies crop up. They attract attention -- positive attention! -- and for the weirder children who have trouble getting people to notice them when they're not cramming things into their noses, it's a tempting lie to explore. And it's an exploration that can be very effective, at least when it's carefully deployed, with the classic child-lie hallmarks that make it hard to verify, like distant meeting locations and a lack of photographs because no one had a camera that day.

BananaStock/Getty Images"I would have gotten a picture, but Nicki Minaj is a very private person, and also I left my camera with her as a going-away present."

#2. The Touch of Death

There isn't a child around who doesn't have at least one friend who swears that they know (or know someone who knows) how to kill someone with a single touch. Whether it's a kick to the sternum, a sensual caress of the collarbone, or simply reaching in and tearing out the heart, there's one badass on every playground who swears it can be done.

BananaStock/Getty Images"Was it pigtail yank first, then chin poke, or was it ... STOP CRYING."

Brockway touched on this before, and he summarized it perfectly: These lies are essentially the nuclear-deterrent strategy of playground confrontations. When confronted by such a claim, a bully has to ask himself, "He's probably lying. But what if he isn't? Is this Fruit Roll-Up really worth my life?"

And every time a kid told a lie about a video game, it was backed up by his "uncle who worked for Nintendo." By now you'll see the pattern: It's just plausible enough, and it's hard to quickly disprove. Who knows what anyone's uncle does? While you might be able to find out what a friend's dad does, there's no feasible way to find out anything about their uncle. He could be a farmer or an astronaut or a public drunk. But he never was. He always worked for Nintendo.

Hoby Finn/Photodisc/Getty Images"Nephew, I can't keep risking my job to impress some 7-year-olds, and ... oh, what the hell. Man, do I have a weird need to seek the approval of 7-year-old boys. What's that? No, just thinking aloud. That's not the code. Don't tell anyone I said that."

He was a mysterious and distant genius who knew how to unlock every secret character, how to access every hidden level, and even the secret incantations necessary to turn any character, from Lara Croft to Samus Aran to Kirby, completely nude.

"No, this is the last time, nephew. I was not supposed to put that in the game. I have a serious problem, and you calling me every day is not helping. Goodbye forever. Well, yes. Forever until Thanksgiving."

Chris Bucholz is a Cracked columnist and, although this is going to sound really unlikely now, does actually have an uncle who works for Nintendo. Join him on Facebook or Twitter, where he'll share the secret Metroid code that lets you take Samus on a coffee date in which she's visibly uncomfortable the entire time.